The Internet contains many types of content that users may wish to collect and share. In response to this desire, services have developed to enable users to collect and share particular types of content. For example, for bookmarks, services such as del.icio.us and Google Bookmarks allow users to easily capture and store bookmarks. Similarly, services are available to capture feeds. For example, Bloglines, MyYahoo, Google Reader, and others provide services to capture and store feeds. However, each service is configured to capture only one type of content. Thus, a user would choose between numerous bookmark services displayed on a page in the form of user interfaces (e.g., buttons on a screen or webpage) and select one from the list displayed to bookmark that page, for example, using the del.icio.us button or user interface for collecting bookmarks. The user however may later accidentally use a different service for collecting bookmarks and file similar content in different services thereby adding complexity and obstacles in retrieving the information. Similar complexities and obstacles exist for other content types.
The web publisher has a limited area on the screen to provide these various content collection buttons or user interfaces and must choose which to include and exclude as well as how to fit them on the web page along with the content. Too many buttons use valuable screen space for displaying buttons rather than for displaying the content of the web publisher. This does not benefit either the web publisher or the user.
FIG. 1 provides a diagram illustrating the relationship between content type on the Internet, content collection buttons or user interfaces, content collection services, and content destination using a current bookmarking service 5. Content 7 displayed on the Internet may have one or more bookmarking buttons (i.e., user interfaces) 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d . . . 10n associated with it. Examples of bookmarking buttons associated with content include buttons from del.icio.us, Google bookmarks, Digg, etc. Pressing, clicking, or otherwise activating the button causes the content associated with the button or interface to be sent to its corresponding bookmarking service 15a, 15b, 15c, 15d, . . . 15n. Thus, pressing the del.icio.us bookmark button 10a will cause content to be sent to the del.icio.us bookmarking service 15a, just as clicking the google bookmark button 10b and the Digg button 10c will cause content to be sent the corresponding bookmarking service 15b and 15c, respectively. In particular, the content will go to the specific bookmarking service and at that service it will go to the account of the user who has activated the button on the specific bookmarking service. The content will neither go to another service nor to multiple service simultaneously. As a consequence a user is reliant upon the web publisher to include the bookmark service buttons 10 on the page. The web publisher may select one, two or more of the buttons but leave off other buttons. As a consequence, the user is inconvenienced by the need to set up multiple bookmark accounts with the various services in order to be capable of bookmarking from any web page.
It should be noted that the bookmarking example of FIG. 1 operates similarly to other current content collection methods. For example, there are numerous feed services with feed service buttons for collecting feed content. Activating one of the feed service buttons will send the feed to that corresponding feed service. Similar configurations exist for podcast services, wish list services, etc. In general a content collection service will have a button on a web page and activating that button will send content to that service.
In summary, the prior art content collection methods generally relate to collecting content using a button or user interface in which the method includes activating a user interface associated with one type of content. Activating the user interface directs the content to a content collection service.
In contrast, one invention described herein includes a method and user interface or button that provides the ability to use a single interface or button that is configurable to collect digital content without being limited by the type of digital content collected. Another invention described herein includes a method and user interface or button that provides the ability to use a single interface or button that is configurable to collect digital content without being limited by the collection service for the particular type of digital content collected. It should be noted that in general the user interface and button are used interchangeable herein to describe a button that a user can press or otherwise activate to collect content.